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SHOTOKAN - THE ORIGINS
Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered as the father of “modern Karate”. He was born in Shuri, Okinawa, in 1868 and at the age of 11 began to study Karate under two of Okinawa’s top masters. In time sensei Funakoshi became a master in his own right and in 1922 he was invited to demonstrate Karate to the Japanese public for the very first time. The demonstration was such a success he was invited to stay in Japan and teach which he did with great success.
For Funakoshi sensei, the word Karate eventually took on a deeper meaning synthesizing, into what was to become Karate-Do, “the way of the empty hand”. He was to modify the Okinawaan art by taking inspiration from traditional Japanese BuDo (KenDo, KyuDo, AikiDo, JuDo, etc) and emphasizing their philosophical aspects. This became a total discipline, which represented a synthesis of Okinawa and Japanese schools and in 1936 he established the ‘SHOTOKAN’ style of Japanese Karate, which was to be greatly, influenced by his son Yoshitaka (Giku) and Masatoshi Nakayama, first headmaster of the Japan Karate Association.
It is upon these concepts that in 1948, the Japan Karate Association was founded. The establishment of the JKA lead the way to the spread of Shotokan Karate throughout the world. Master Masatoshi Nakayama, one of Funakoshi's greatest students, su±cceeded him as the headmaster of the JKA and during his time there he further developed Shotokan, based on his own research into the style we know today.
The establishment of the JKA leads the way to the spread of Shotokan Karate throughout the world. Master Masatoshi Nakayama, one of Funakoshi's greatest students, succeeded him as the headmaster of the JKA and during his time there he further developed Shotokan, based on his own research into the style we know today.
Nakayama sensei became Abe sensei’s grandmaster and mentors during many years as instructor at JKA Sohonbu, which lasted until Master Nakayama's death in 1987.
